Nature Positive Cities Efforts to Advance the Tranistion Barranquilla 2025

2 Assessment of the enabling environment Challenges identified –Divergent national priorities: Successive national administrations have concentrated environmental investments in rural areas or conservation zones outside the urban footprint, sidelining the urbannature agenda within the city. This lack of consistent political support limits the flow of resources and institutional backing needed to consolidate green infrastructure projects and ecological restoration projects in critical urban areas. –Intersectoral coordination for a unified environmental strategy: Planning, execution, oversight and monitoring of environmental initiatives is distributed among institutions with legally defined mandates. The challenge lies in cultivating agile intersectoral coordination that avoids duplication and information gaps, makes each entity’s progress visible and enables the formulation of a single environmental strategy for the city. This strategy should be coherent, efficient and free of unnecessary bureaucracy. Improvement areas –Identify international organizations (e.g. multilateral development banks) that can champion and advocate for nature-positive investment in cities through country platforms. –Enhance the capabilities of government officials and contractors through continuous training and technical assistance, enabling them to design, implement and monitor projects that meet international standards for sustainability and governance. This will increase the quality of public initiatives and facilitate access to global financing. –Develop a body or mechanism that ensures oversight across all nature initiatives conducted by the city. Nature Positive: Cities’ Efforts to Advance the Transition – Barranquilla 23